Hisakata no amatsu shirushi to minashigawa hedatete okishi kamiyo shi urameshi

ひさかたの天つしるしと水無し川
隔てて置きし神代し恨めし

Roma-ji: Hisakata no amatsu shirushi to minashigawa hedatete okishi kamiyo shi urameshi
English Translation: Far away the sky,
as a sign of heaven's will,
the waterless stream
was set as a barrier—
how I hate that age of gods!
Meaning: How I resent the age of the gods, which set the waterless river between us as a sign of heaven's decree!
Commentary: Book Ten Autumn Miscellaneous Poems 2007

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Tanabata"
This poem resents the age of the gods that set the Heavenly River between them as heaven's decree. Calling the Heavenly River that blocks their meeting a "waterless river," it holds resentment toward a river that divides them though it has no water. Whereas 2002 and 2005 traced the stars' love back to the age of gods and the beginning of the world, this one sings from the reversed viewpoint of resenting that very divine decree.
Kakinomoto no Hitomaro was a court poet of the Asuka period, active under Empress Jitō and Emperor Monmu. The left note records that this poem comes from the Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Collection, and it is uncertain whether it is Hitomaro's own work or a poem by someone else that he recorded.

The first line, "hisakata no," is a pillow word attached to "heaven."
The second line, "as a sign of heaven," names the decree.
The third line, "minashigawa," a waterless river, refers to the Heavenly River, said to have no water as a river of the sky.
In the fourth line, "hedatete okishi," "shi" is the attributive of the past "ki": set as a barrier.
In the last line, "kamiyo shi urameshi," "shi" is emphatic; the line is hypermetric and closes with resentment toward the age that set the barrier.
Author: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Source: Manyoshu
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